| 10/5/2024
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Hello,
My name is Samuel Mena Jr III. But most people just call me Sam. For the last 7 years, I've served the state of Arizona as a Journalist, Videographer, and Visual Storyteller, entering the industry professionally as a Freelancer in 2017, and becoming a Full Time General Assignment News Videographer in 2022.
As part of my education when I was pursuing my Journalism degree at the Walter Cronkite School in Phoenix, I especially loved learning about how much Journalism had the foundations of its practice based in Philosophy and in Ethics. Some of the deepest questions that are studied as part of the human condition, concepts like Objectivity, the pursuit of knowledge and truth, the origins of Ethics and Morality and fairness, all are scrutinized, evaluated, and applied on a daily basis in the Journalism industry.
Of all of the schools of philosophy that are foundational to journalism however, none is as important as Objectivity. Objectivity is defined as: anything that exists as it is independent of any conscious awareness of it. Even if it wasn't possible for us to meet each other, you would still exist outside of my awareness of your existence. And even if we met, as I stand and look at you, I can't know everything about you. And even if you told me everything there is to know about you, my perspective on what makes you, you, is different than your perspective on what makes you, you.
But I'm a journalist. I am a mediator of information. It is my job to seek out information, and expertise, and perspective from experts and witnesses and first hand accounts of whatever subject and communicate that to a mass audience without letting my perspective and influence taint that information. For the public, for the masses, for you to evaluate and judge how society at large is doing, I must not let my influence change your understanding of the world.
I'm here today however to tell you that Objectivity as it relates to Journalism is a shell of what it once was.
It's as if because the Journalists of yesteryear held Objectivity at such high value, they forgot why society even needed Journalists in the first place.
If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, a journalist doesn't need to report that information to the forest. The Forest has no use for journalism. But if that tree blocks a roadway, if it destroys a home, if it grows a set of legs and claims the world record 100m dash or whatever, a journalist will judge that news for it's impact on the community, for the timeliness of the event, for it's prominence, for it's proximity to the audience, for it's abnormalities, for its conflict, for the financial impact it has, and for it's humanity.
Journalism, by it's very nature, necessitates sensitivity, and an awareness of our humanity. We are not indifferent, unfeeling, uninteractive all-knowing onlookers of the world in which we exist. Journalism was and is a service to be consumed and utilized for the benefit of the public to better their lives.
The very foundation of Democracy hinges on the electoral process and on how well informed the public is. Because if the public is not equipped with the knowledge it needs to fully understand how they want to vote, Democracy suffers.
So if I'm a trailblazer in the budding world of mass communication broadcast Journalism, and Democracy is at stake, and I don't want to taint the publics understanding of "policy Issues" with my perspective because that's not Objective, what is the solution? Well the journalists of the past thought the solution was to let the marketplace of ideas decide for itself. Flood the discussion with every point of view out there and only the strongest ideas, under the strictest scrutiny of logic will survive in the public discourse, and dominate discussion.
It wasn't a perfect solution but it was a sufficient solution that worked for a very long time.
However, the journalism industry, the journalists, like the rest of the United States, developed alongside the development of this country. My experience is in television. Public Broadcast journalism is a thing of the past. Nearly every network you can think of is privatized. And for corporations that exists in this country, a quota needs to be met, a quarterly annual performance evaluation is had, and someone is actively eyeing 24/7 the companies net profit. This is the nature of the competitive market. And if the company performs poorly, cuts are made, usually to the detriment of the replaceable employees. Right now, in the United states, an estimated 40% of the adult workforce generates a large part of their income through the gig economy. By 2027, that number is likely to exceed 50%. Additionally, AI has developed more quickly than anyone could have anticipated, and 35% of companies are already using it. The lesson that people have internalized is not "outperform insane expectations," but rather "survive." Become hyper aware of the behavioral tells of your employer, because you are replaceable. When there is so much demand to consume a product, you don't have time to focus on quality control. The name of the game is quantity over quality.
The CBS affiliated news station I work for during my 8 hour shift alone, has a 3pm, 4pm, 5pm, 6pm, 8pm, 9pm, and 10pm broadcasts. My labor usually contributes to the 8, 9, and 10, but there have been a multitude of times, I've contributed to 6 broadcasts in a single day.
Journalists, Editorial staff, Producers, Photographers, are jaded, and tired, and feeling the same sense of job insecurity the rest of the country is. We've gotten very good at what we do, we've streamlined our processes, and we cut corners all the time.
Bothsidesism, or False Balance, is the perverted, corrupted lazy byproduct of the marketplace of ideas existing in America as we know it now. We need to fill slot. We need to make air. We need someone to talk on television, right now and we don't care who. This is the reason why you can have a panel discussion consisting of a climate scientist and a flat earther and have a journalist mediate the discussion and genuinely engage with both perspectives on air. "Both sides." And there are dozens of other topics we can look to where the industry creates false balances. And I have mentors who swear that false balanced reporting is good journalism.
Over a period of multiple generations, we've seen the standards for Editorial Decision making in American Journalism deteriorate while lauding Bothsidesism as good journalism. This all came to a head in 2016 when Donald Trump inspired a revolution in the world of Public Discourse. No one was more well equipped to take advantage of the media worlds editorial complacency and laziness. What would it matter to Donald Trump that he was lying if the media was going to entertain the framework of his arguments anyways?
And this caused a ripple affect through the world of American politics. Whereas initially, every other Rupublican candidate was denouncing Trump as a compulsive liar, by the next election cycle, many of them had adopted his own strategies. Jim Jordan, Matt Gaetz, Margerie Taylor Green, Ted Cruz, are just a few of the multitude of other elected conservative figureheads that were normalizing falsity in the Public Discourse.
And what happened as a result of that? What were the consequences of this new linguistic strategy existing in the world of American politics? When 2020 rolled around, the American people VOTED and said no! You will not look us in the eyes when we are unhappy with what we see, and tell us we've got it wrong. We misunderstand. We misheard. We misread.
We voted to save Democracy. That's what was at stake.
And now, nearly 4 years later, How is America doing?
When we trusted the Democrat party to save democracy, maintain civil liberties, uphold decency, and protect truth, they went behind our backs and adopted the same strategies that the republicans were using in 2018.
When Democrats said they would do whatever it takes to protect abortion, they failed to deliver on that promise. Be it through Obama failing to codify Roe v Wade with a supermajority in congress, Ruth Bater Ginsburg yielding her position in the supreme court or Biden simply appointing more judges to the court.
When democrats had the opportunity to change the filibusters ability to impede genuine progress on legislation, Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema suddenly no longer identify as Democrats.
When Joe Biden denounces Trumps border wall and says not a foot more will be built, all of a sudden, it's out of his control when the wall is expanded under his supervision.
In 2020, Biden promised in New Hamshire, quote "No more drilling on federal lands. Period" endquote, and yet the United States is producing more oil now than any country ever has.
These were lies.
But maybe you don't care about "policy issues." How about the fact that the MEDIAN personal income in the United States in 2024 is under 36,000 dollars. And I didn't stutter there. The AVERAGE personal income is about 54,000 dollars but that brings outlier billionaires into the equation. But lets include billionaires into the calculation. The median monthly rent price in August was 21 hundred dollars. At average with 54,000 dollars annually, that's 43% of the average American's income just to rent. There is a normalized sentiment in this country that home ownership will never be accessible again for young people. There is a normalized sentiment in this country that having a child right now is incredibly risky. Not just financially, but also in terms of maternal mortality.
And yet, in April Joe Biden had the gall to tell NBC's TODAY that quote "America has the best economy in the world." endquote.
This is a malicious misrepresentation of the truth.
In her dissenting opinion of a Supreme court case ruling presidents are immune from nearly all criminal prosecution, Justice Sonia Sotomayor described the president as a king above the law. Vying for the crown are a handful of people. Donald Trump who speaks honestly about how he will take full advantage of the power the new position of President grants him, and Kamala Harris. Kamala Harris, who as the active sitting Vice President of the United States, has had a direct hand in shaping the America we find ourselves in today.Trump is immensely problematic but I want to highlight Harris. Because as Harris has found herself in the Public spotlight, Harris has tried to pitch herself as a progressive alternative to Donald Trump. Even Donald Trump himself has given her the nickname Comrade Kamala and repeatedly calls her a marxist.
I want to highlight a few things about Harris however. When Harris had previously claimed in a CNN interview she intended to ban fracking and decriminalize illegal border crossings, she later confirmed she actually doesn't want to ban fracking and to paraphrase said "there should be consequences" for people who cross the border without permission, and she reaffirmed these positions in her first debate against Trump, who happens to also hold the same views.
In her speech at the Democratic National Convention, Harris proclaimed quote, "As commander-in-chief, I will ensure America always has the strongest, most lethal fighting force in the world." endquote.
And in an interview with Jake Tapper, while discussing Trumps presence on Social Media, Kamala Harris stated that quote "There has to be a responsibility placed on these social media sights to understand their power. They are directly speaking to millions of people without any level of oversight or regulation." Which would be a reasonable demand if it weren't for the fact the democrat party has sued the third party candidates in Montana, Nevada, Arkansas, Wisconsin to prevent the American people from considering to vote for other options.
I could go on about both Harris and the Democrat party but my final point is this.
In spite of everything I've just said, and in spite of everything I don't have time to discuss, maybe you still feel as if the Democrat party can be forgiven for fudging the line between reality and fantasy. Political talking points and genuine action.
On Wednesday, July 24th, following the aftermath of the democrat party forcing him to exit the presidential race after the American people were exposed to how poor his faculties were on full display in his first debate against Donald Trump, President Biden, addressing the nation said and I quote "I'm the first president in this century to report to the American people that the United States is not at war anywhere in the world."
A GENOCIDE OF THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE IS OCCURRING AT THE HANDS OF THE STATE OF ISRAEL AND AMERICA HAS FINANCED IT WITH YOUR TAX DOLLARS.
The Biden-Harris administration said it wanted to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza in February AND YET, as of August, Israel has received 50.5 Billion dollars in Military aid and sales since October 7th, which is an outdated figure by this point. AND YET, when votes were held at the UN for a resolution to call for a ceasefire to war-torn Gaza, the US used it's Veto power on 3 separate occasions. AND YET, as the Democratic National Convention was underway in August, one third of the US Navy was deployed to the middle east to protect Israel's interests
And NOW, Israel marches on Lebanon, and western media calls it a "Limited ground operation," while failing to mention Israels activity bombing Syria, and Yemen as well.
We live in a country of Hypocrisy, falsehood, and misdirection! The leaders of the "free world" are party puppets on a global stage hoping that you enjoy their song and dance while praying that you don't pay attention to what happens behind closed curtains!
Because while Democratic and Republican leaders feign ignorance on what happened October 7th and what has happened since, they hope we don't pay attention to other Settler Colonialist projects around the world the United States has involvement in such as the silent genocide that has been ongoing in the congo. Or attempted coup d'e-tat's around the world.
(The Biden administration recognizes that America, the worlds leading economic superpower, is at threat of losing that title as Russia and China continue to expand their global reach. And in desperation to not accept the circumstances of a changing world economy, the Biden administration continues to negligently aid Israel unconditionally, so that America might prevent Russian and Chinese adversaries from utilizing resources in the region. As long as Israel and America are allied with one another, America can assert itself in the region.
And it is this direct competitiveness the United States has with China, for the title of greatest economic superpower in the world, that informs all of the United States decision making globally, and why Taiwan in particular, is so crucial for the United States. Taiwan, as the worlds number 1 manufacturing producer for semiconductors and computer chips, is a key contributor to Americas tech industries. The Taiwan Semiconductor manufacturing company produces 60 percent of the worlds semiconductors and ranks as among one of the top 10 most valuable publicly traded companies in the world. But China claims the island of Taiwan to be a part of China proper, and the geopolitical climate in the region has been tense for decades. It is for these reasons, America has gone as far as to give Taiwan $80 million in military aid, in order to combat China's acquisition of Taiwan, and also why crucially, in 2022, the Biden administration allocated nearly $53 billion via the chips and science act for developing semiconducting manufacturing in America. As a result of that, Intel and even TSMC have opened multiple semiconductor FABS in the greater Phoenix area of Arizona, my home state, making Arizona the 2nd largest producer of semiconductors and computer chips in the world, 2nd only to Taiwan.)
We're so focused on trying to end the genocide happening in Palestine, largely because the white house continues to frame the genocide instead as a war against Hamas. Frames it as a war against "Rapists and Baby murderers."
And it is We, the American Journalists, through lazy negligence at best or through corporate influence at worst, created the environment, incubated, and carried to term the tools that the leaders of our government would use to dismantle the truths of the world in which we live.
We went to Israel and didn't bother to demand to be let into Gaza. We spoke to Israel who gave us no evidence and yet reported that rapists and baby murderers had attacked an ally of the United States. We gave Netanyuhu a red carpet welcome to speak in the chambers of congress and to the American public directly. We took at face value that this war is a war against Hamas.
A 139 square mile strip of people has been leveled, and yet, children still rise from the ashes of a home they once knew, and vow to get vengeance against their loved ones murderers, and WE THE AMERICAN JOURNALISTS CALL IT A WAR AGAINST HAMAS.
How many Palestinians were killed that I allowed to be branded as Hamas? How many men, women, and children were struck with a missile cosigned by the American media? Cosigned by "Samuel Mena Jr?" I joined this industry to serve the people of the state of Arizona that I call home. And now, I understand the reality that is maintaining face for the American Empire.
How much more of our history have I swept under the rug because I was told it was in the past? For how much of my life, was I groomed to aid in facilitating settler colonialism?
Does Hawaii see us as her friend, or does she, along with every other coastal Island, see us as their captors? Did we end World War 2 with the Atomic bomb, or did we become the worlds greatest fear? Where are the history books written by Native Americans?
Am I a product of a misinformation campaign? And if I am, what hope is there for the American people?
The foundation of the world I thought I existed in is gone, and all that is left are a handful of truths.
Truth 1: Democracy is dead. America looked in the dead eyes of the British Colonialism that we once opposed in an effort to create this nation, and instead decided to revive it and create the worlds most powerful autocrat; the president of the united states of America.
Truth 2: And this is the one that matters the most. By sciences most optimistic calculations, the planet has less than 5 years left before it reaches the global heat threshold. If nothing is done to slow the affects of global warming, the planet will exponentially get hotter until Earth is no longer habitable for Human life. And the affects are already here. Hurricane Helene hit 6 American states last week, and as of writing this speech, has killed 220 people, caused 2 million to be without power, and wiped communities OFF THE MAP.
Truth 3: The next president of the United States term in office will be 4 years long. Do you understand what is truly at stake?
While the Biden-Harris administration have been playing politics with Republicans, as global leaders have been bickering about decorum while Netanyahu facilitates a genocide across the world, while news commentators and media personalities candidly talked about Brat Summer, the planet that birthed and housed the development, peaks, valleys, every struggle and victory humanity has ever experienced, every fleeting moment that you and the rest of mankind has ever cherished, will soon be rejected by her.
I'm not gonna belittle your autonomy by pandering to you and telling you to go vote or who to vote for. But I will ask you "What are you going to do?"
Because by doing nothing, we found ourselves in this very situation. There's laundry to do, mouths to feed, bills to pay, but also a genocide to end, and a planet boiling over. So I ask again "What are you going to do?"
I've asked myself this exact same question for months now. Initially, I set out to create the most ambitious documentary I would ever make in my career. What I thought had to be, my magnum opus. I have a voice, and maybe my voice is enough to end a genocide. But as I wrote, and drafted, and collected every possible source I could, I started finding brilliant and powerful pieces of journalism that were so concise and objective and true. I gathered every video out of Gaza from every tiny instagram profile, twitter feed, youtube channel I could find, each personal account moving me in ways I will never forget. But they weren't enough. The impassioned voices of journalists weren't enough. The voices of dead Palestinians weren't enough.
None of the commentary, none of the cries of agony, not a voice has rung loud enough to end this genocide.
So the conclusion I come to is repeatedly the same. Conviction of will and bravery of the soul.
It was the journalists before me, who were void of dedication to truth, that allowed politicians of the world void of conviction, bravery, and honesty to play with the lives of America and the planet. That allowed truth to be bent, and smeared, and hidden. Today, I intend to demonstrate with as much of my conviction as I possibly can. But before I do, I, personally, call upon every world leader in every corner and pocket, of this green earth, to wake up and realize that the clock is ticking, not only for this planet, but also for the comfortability and security you think you enjoy. Unify with the rest of the world, and come up with an immediate plan to end settler colonialism as it exists today, and heal the planet.
And for everyone else who may hear or read my speech, complacency will be the end of humanity. Globalization was initially a tool used to expand the power and reach of the western world, but now, it has given us the capacity to unify as one global voice against those who wear the earth on their fingers.
Joe Biden has a voice. Kamala Harris a voice. Donald Trump has a voice. Shireen Abu Akleh had a voice. Aaron Bushnell had a voice. Palestine still has a voice.
And I have a voice too, and mine seeks the truth, and for good or for evil, mine is the speech that cannot be silenced.
To the 10 thousand children in Gaza that have lost a limb in this conflict, I give my left arm to you. I pray my voice was able to raise up yours, and that your smiles never disappear.
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